Pride Living Annual Review 2022

Bruce here. This year, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary and Denise, our Business Admin Manager who has been part of the Pride since the beginning reminded me about the 5-year goals I shared with her when she started. I’ve taken the trouble to revisit these from our first internal annual strategic planning event. The key messages back then included:

• Our success would be measured in terms of Finance, Citizenship (CSR) and Satisfaction (Employer of choice)
• We take pride in (value) creating value, respect, innovation and collaboration

In late July, we took our team to Adelaide to celebrate our anniversary, review the journey so far and set the course for the next 5 years. The team reflected on these goals and affirmed that our actions and outcomes reflected these initial aspirations.

I can confidently say it has been another successful year for Pride Living, and I’m pleased to see how far we’ve come, how much we’ve grown and how much we’ve achieved.

Our Impact

In the last 5 years, we’ve:

Worked with over 90 Providers

Completed more than 430 projects

Published 56 thought leadership insights

Undertaken 104 research projects in relation to Quality and Compliance and the adoption of Additional Services by the sector

Spoken to more than 40 conferences/webinars and seminars

Developed a sector leading model for the delivery of Additional Services which we see as fundamental to the ongoing sustainability of Providers

All we do at Pride Living is directed to helping our clients make decisions with confidence. It is gratifying when we get positive feedback and are able to confirm that our services are valued. While our clients are the final arbiter of our success, the team believe that we have been true to our mission of –

Advising and facilitating the evolution of the Aged Care sector into consumer driven model.

Reflecting on 2022

Consistent with our observations last year about first movers and early adopters carving out sustainable business models and market positions, we’ve worked on a significant number of Strategic Review/Direction assignments for a range of Providers. In some cases, the Providers decided the future is not for them while others have embraced the new era. In one telling case, the CFO of a Church and Charitable Providers opined that the essence of our advice was “we need to become more commercial”. This shows great understanding of what I call the Safety Net Govt Funded Aged Care System.

We completed significant M&A advisory assignments, with Autumn Lodge in Armidale being our most recent.

About 8 years ago, I led a major study commissioned by ACFA which sought to understand the reasons for the differing financial performance of Providers. Three takeouts from that work were that successful Providers:

While there is no denying that appropriate Govt funding is critical, we believe the above remain as relevant today as they did when we identified these drivers.

Looking Ahead to 2023 and Beyond

We are enthused about the future because of the demographics, the reality of ageing and an increasing respect for older people in Australian culture. With the Royal Commission behind us and further clarity on the regulatory framework from the recent passing of the Royal Commission Response and Implementing Care Bills, now is the time for Providers to provide equal weight to the desires of the Consumer for Quality of Life while responding to the requirements of the regulator relating principally to Quality of Care.

If you’ve read our Insights, you will have seen how Additional Services has become part of the mainstream. We are now actively assisting Providers develop their accommodation pricing models, with our new service Reimagine Occupancy and Revenue (ROAR). Our ROAR program involves our Single Payment Model which is akin to an annuity. Under this model, the Resident can pay a simple sum on entry with no further payments. The model also provides the flexibility so that the Consumer can set the amount they want to pay each month. The benefit of this is the choice it provides Consumers and the certainty it provides Providers.

2023 is going to be a big year for care funding and staffing. James has been increasingly busy undertaking Sustainable Resourcing Reviews, which seek to match resourcing to funding.

Katrina has found that Providers are now more proactive in the Clinical governance space with new and existing clients boosting their internal quality assurance function to build internal capability with our support.

JC Yap has recently joined the Pride to boost our capacity to support Providers as they develop their AN-ACC capability. In our recent Insight, we highlighted the importance of this and the significant potential lost revenue from a failure to focus on how to Generate more revenue per customer.

I’m still learning as a client of Residential Aged Care

Last year, I shared how my mother had entered care and my experience of securing her a place. I often ask our clients if they have had the experience of having a family member in a facility, an ILU or in receipt of home care. It’s quite surprising how many have not.

While I’ve been around the sector for over 20 years, worked with many Providers and interacted with literally thousands of employees, none of this gave me the insights I get from being a client.

It has taken 12 months for mum’s financial arrangements to settle. This was a constant area of stress for Mum and totally confusing for me. Providing clarity and simplicity for Consumers is what drove our development of our Single Payment Model.

I’ve observed a number of ways Providers unknowingly marginalise Residents. For example, calling me when Mum has a fall, despite Mum repeatedly asking/telling them that she does not want this to happen. It’s been suggested to me that ignoring Mum’s request not to contact me could be a breach of her privacy. I received calls from the pharmacist and the optometrist asking me to authorise expenditure when Mum retains all her facilities and oversees her own finances.

Prior to moving into residential care, mum expressed her fear that everything she has to keep her mind active will be taken away from her. These are just a couple of examples of how this is unknowingly being done. True consumer-centred care would limit the instances where residents wishes and capabilities are not embedded into the way the facility interacts with individual residents.

How the Pride is going

At the personal level, Joseph has completed his Diploma in Data Science. Megan is progressing in her Master’s in Project Management, Katrina is well into her MBA and Nik, having completed his degree has taken 6 months off to travel. I completed my Master’s in Public Health.

Supporting continued learning in our team enables us to be a thought leader, add value to our clients and develop the careers of our team.

We’ve also welcomed 5 new cubs into the Pride over the year.

Pride and Purpose

We continue to donate 1% of our revenue every year to charities chosen by our team. This year, we’re delighted to have provided meaningful financial support to these charities associated with ageing and other needs:

We look forward to partnering with new peak body Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) as we enter a new era in aged care.

Closing Remarks

Thank you to all our clients who have trusted us with your challenges. Thank you to our industry partners who have sufficient confidence in the value we deliver to Providers to refer us their clients, ask us to speak with their members or include us in their publications and deliberations.

We look forward to working with you in 2023 and beyond to develop your opportunities and overcome your challenges so you can deliver on your missions and provide older and frail people with the Quality of Life they are striving for in a way that is sustainable for your organisations. Our motivation continues to be to provide you with what you need to –

Make decisions with Confidence, because we know that

Confidence leads to Success!

Bruce Bailey – Managing Director